Soviet BMRT factory trawler fishing for ocean perch along 

 Aleutian Islands. This class of trawler is equipped with 

 processing facilities and is able to operate as an independent 

 unit. 



Soviet BMRT factory trawler retrieving a trawl full of ocean 

 perch along the Aleutian Islands. The catch is stored in bins on 

 deck until transferred below deck to the processing facilities. 



Bering Sea 



During the early 1960's tlie Soviets dispatched 20 to 

 30 trawlers each year to fish for Pacific ocean perch 

 along the 100-fathom curve from Unimak Pass to 

 northwest of the Pribilof Islands; however, since July 

 1962, ocean perch fisheries in that area have been 

 sporadic. The Soviet Government reported the ocean 

 perch catch in the eastern and central Bering Sea was 

 1 1 ,500 tons in 1964 and 9,000 tons in 1965. 



KING CRAB FISHERY 



The Soviets have fished for king crabs in their own 

 coastal waters since the early 1900's (Moiseev, 1962). 

 The first fishing was from shore stations and then 

 expanded to factory ships which by the late 1940'shad 

 worked nearly the entire coasts of the Sea of Okhotsk, 

 the Kuril Islands, and the Kamchatka Peninsula. 



Apparently attracted by the success of the Japanese 

 king crab fishery off Alaska and encouraged by their 

 own reconnaissance fishing, the Soviets began a king 

 crab fishery on the Continental Shelf of the eastern 

 Bering Sea in 1959 (fig. 16). The first expedition was 

 from July into September and was made by a converted 

 factory sliip which carried eight small picker boats and 

 was accompanied by three SRT trawlers that set tangle 

 nets. 



One factory ship fleet fished again in 1960 from April 

 into July. 



This fishery in 1961-66 was marked by 

 modernization of the fleets and an increase in effort. A 

 major development occurred in 1961 when two factory 

 slrips engaged in this fishery— one of which was the 

 Andrey Zakharov. the first of a new class of 

 multipurpose factory ships. Each factory sliip in 1961 

 carried about 1 2 picker boats and was accompanied by 3 



net setting trawlers. Two factory ships operated again in 

 1962, and both were of the new class. In 1963 the 

 Soviets increased the effort to three Zakliarov<hss 

 factory sliip fleets, a level that has been maintained 

 througli 1966. Each of the factory ships carried up to 12 

 picker boats, and each was accompanied by 2 net-setting 

 trawlers in 1963 and by 3 in 1964-66. Since 1964 two 

 additional SRT's with tangle nets have conducted 

 reconnaissance fisliing for the three fleets. In 1966 the 

 period of operations changed from April into July to 

 early March through June. 



Each year the Soviets have increased the number of 

 tangle nets fished in the eastern Bering Sea. During the 



Modern Zakharov-c\ass canning factory ship used in Soviet 

 eastern Bering Sea king crab fishery. Each factory ship carries 

 about 12 picker boats like the 1 slung in the forward davit and 

 the 2 alongside. Tangle nets visible on deck of the factory ships 

 are set by accompanying trawlers. 



26 



